


Grieving

by SparkIntoAFlame



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, M/M, bruce is in for like a single scene, kaldur needs to take care of himself tbh, roy harper is a good boyfriend who is tired of kaldur's shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:45:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15779919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkIntoAFlame/pseuds/SparkIntoAFlame
Summary: After Wally's death, Kaldur takes it upon himself to take care of the team.





	Grieving

Kaldur finds Dick curled up in the corner of the main room of the Cave, staring blankly at nothing, still in his Nightwing uniform. He places a hand on Dick’s back and pulls him to his feet. Kaldur leads him to the showers, slipping out to grab a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants and placing them neatly onto a table nearby. He waits outside.

 

Dick walks out, hands stuffed in hoodie pockets and Kaldur can pinpoint the exact moment where the reality of the situation sinks in because Dick’s face crumples and he’s saying  _ Fuck, Kaldur, he’s dead, Wally West is dead, my best friend is dead. _

 

And Dick’s choking out the words through heaving sobs and he narrowly avoids falling to the floor, thanks to Kaldur’s quick reflexes and strong arms that lower him gently and wrap around him. The words tumble out of his mouth, a string of sounds that would slowly become meaningless had it not been Wally’s death, a death that means  _ everything _ to the Team.

 

They stay in the same way, Kaldur silently holding Dick while he cries into Kaldur’ shoulders, for another thirty minutes until Batman rounds the corner and stops dead because he hasn’t heard Dick cry like this in years,  _ years, _ ever since Jason died. (He wonders if it is a testament to their friendship that Dick cries for Wally as he did for his brother.) He snaps out of his reverie within seconds and carefully walks over and crouches down beside the two young heroes. Kaldur lets go and Dick looks up with a tear-stained face into the eyes of his mentor  _ (father)  _ and coughs out an  _ I’m sorry. _ Batman’s mouth sets in an even thinner line and he scoops Dick up in his arms and carries him out, bridal style (which would have been hilarious if Dick wasn’t sobbing as if the world was falling around him -  _ which it was  _ \- and if Wally was standing next to Kaldur -  _ which he wasn’t _ ). Batman with leaves with a quiet  _ thank you _ in Kaldur’s direction.

 

…

 

He almost calls Connor out because he doesn’t think he can bear to see the sight of her.

 

But Connor hasn’t been out of the training room since they got back  _ (Eighteen hours and forty minutes,  _ Kaldur thinks.  _ When it hits a full day, I’ll pull him out). _

 

Kaldur walks to her room and hesitates when he hears muffled cries that pull at his heart and almost wishes that Martian Manhunter could handle this instead. He knocks softly at the door and the crying stops quickly. He can hear small sniffles and a cleared throat before the door swings open. She whispers  _ Hey, Kaldur, _ as if she wasn’t sobbing her heart out moments ago.

 

Kaldur can feel his heart splinter as she hides her pain (because he knows what it is like to pretend that you are fine for everyone around you and he does not wish that for her, sweet M’gann who bakes for everyone and flushed green at Wally’s innuendos). 

 

She opens the door wider and invites him in with a trembling smile and asks how he is doing. He is not sure whether he wants to laugh or cry as he sits her down on the bed and kneels in front of her and tells her that  _ you do not have to pretend to be okay _ and  _ you do not have to stay strong - that is my job, not yours. _

 

She trembles and cries, latching on to Kaldur’s arm with a strength he did not know she possessed and wishes that  _ Wally was here _ . Although Kaldur hates that he has to witness her crying, a small part of him is relieved that she is no longer hiding.

 

…

 

He purposely saved her for last. He purposely let Dick fall apart in his arms, let M’gann drop her facade in front of him, let Zatanna cry into his shoulder, pulled Connor from the training room, and comforted every other member of the team before going to her door. 

 

He takes a deep breath before knocking on her door and does not hope that it will open. Her blotchy face meets him with a wavering grin that does not match her tired, bloodshot eyes and she says  _ Hey, Kal, _ and lets him in.

 

The table is layered with sympathy dishes from many people that Kaldur doesn’t know and more that he does. He recognizes almost the entire League and most of the Team from cards and tags. 

 

_ They had to write their names, _ Artemis says,  _ because I wasn’t opening the door until two days ago. _

 

Kaldur did not know he could feel this guilty. He now wishes he had stopped by earlier, days ago. His mouth forms an apology before Artemis shoots him a look that stops him.

 

_ I can’t deal with anymore ‘sorrys’, _ she snaps.

 

Kaldur nods in understanding and merely places his hand over hers where she is gripping the counter tight enough that her knuckles turn white. She shakes slightly, whether from anger or sadness, Kaldur was unsure.

 

_ He didn’t even save everyone, _ she says bitterly.  _ He forgot to save himself, that fucking idiot. _

 

She screams the last words before starting to sob loudly.  _ He forgot to save himself. _

 

Kaldur gathers her in his arms and carries her to her bed and lays her down. She curls up, her head in his lap and trembles. After fifteen minutes, he asks if she has slept this week or if she has eaten. She shakes her head no, presumably in response to both questions.

 

He rises gently and picks out a dish from her crowded dinner table at random. A quick glance at it reveals that it is from Karen with a long note. He heats up the lasagna contained within in it in the microwave and fills a glass with water for Artemis. He heads back into the room and places the plate in front of her before kissing her forehead and leaving.

 

He returns, five hours later, to find the plate and glass empty, and repeats the process.

 

_ She will recover in time,  _ he thinks.

 

…

 

He is dead on his feet by the time he returns to his apartment a week and a half later and after making sure that everyone is eating, sleeping, and drinking (water). He has not allowed himself time to grieve for the loss of a colleague, a comrade, and a friend. He barely makes it three feet into the doorway before collapsing and beginning to sob. Tears from the past ten days spill, as if a dam has broken behind his tear ducts.

 

Kaldur is unsure of how much time has passed; it seems simultaneously like an eternity and a nanosecond. But there are a pair of strong, scarred arms wrapping around his shoulders that he clutches at like a lifeline and a voice murmuring words he cannot decipher in his ear. He claws helplessly at Roy’s forearm, trying to get him to leave, trying to communicate that he will be fine in a moment, but Roy’s grip only tightens and he whispers,  _ I know you think you’re gonna be alright, fish sticks, and you want me to leave. But right now, you’re gonna cry and I’m gonna hold you and someone’s gonna take care of you for a change. _ Kaldur only cries harder at these words, curling into Roy’s lap. 

 

And through all the pain Roy has felt, losing one of the few people he called a friend, a twinge of happiness sounds in his heart. 


End file.
